Japan’s Inpex, the operator of the Ichthys LNG export project in Australia, has appointed Tomoya Shinomiya as the new general manager of the company’s LNG trading unit.
Shinomiya will remain as general manager for the oil marketing unit and will take over the second role as of November 1, 2023, according to a statement by Inpex.
Prior to his appointment to the oil marketing unit on January 1, 2022, Shinomiya served as manager for the Abadi LNG marketing group and the gas business unit.
Shinomiya will replace Genta Okamoto as the new general manager of the LNG trading unit while the latter will take over the role of general manager, corporate strategy and planning unit.
Inpex announced in June 2017 that it will establish the LNG trading unit, which is a part of the company’s global energy marketing division.
The firm said at the time the objective of the unit is to “steadily improve the flexibility
and efficiency of business operations relating to the regulation of the LNG supply and
demand across the company’s gas supply chain, as well as LNG transportation.”
Inpex has shipped 65 LNG cargoes from its Ichthys export plant in Australia during the first half of this year, up by one cargo compared to the same period last year.
The Japanese firm said in February that it plans to ship record 132 cargoes of LNG, or 11 per month, from the Ichthys plant in 2023.
The facility at Bladin Point near Darwin has two trains and a nameplate capacity of 8.9 mtpa but it is expected to reach a production of about 9.3 mtpa this year due to debottlenecking.
In Japan, Inpex operates the Naoetsu LNG import terminal with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa, and in Indoneisa the firm is working to develop the Abadi LNG export project.